Shane Watson becomes top-ranked ODI all-rounder
Australia?s Shane Watson has become the top-ranked ODI all-rounder and has also achieved a career-best ranking to date in the Reliance ICC ODI Rankings which were released on Thursday at the end of Bangladesh and Australia series which finished on Wednesday.
Watson has piped Shakib Al Hasan into number-one position in the all-rounders? rankings after taking three wickets and scoring 294 runs in the series. He now leads the Bangladesh captain by a comfortable 44 points margin.
Watson?s scores of 37, 185 not out and 72 in the series have also helped the 29-year-old Queenslander vault nine places to a career-best fourth position. He is now the highest-ranked Australia batsman with Mike Hussey staying in sixth place, captain Michael Clarke rising two places to 11th spot and former captain Ricky Ponting moving one place up to 16th position.
For Bangladesh, Imrul Kayes has climbed four places to 42nd position but Shakib has slipped two places to 26th spot.
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Mitchell Johnson?s seven wickets in the series have given him a lift of seven places and he now sits in sixth position. Brett Lee is the other Australia bowler who has improved his ranking as he has returned to the top 20 in 20th position after a jump of three places.
The news for Bangladesh bowlers is not very good as Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza have dropped in the latest rankings. Razzak has fallen five places to 11th position, Shakib has slipped three places to 15th spot and Mashrafe has dropped four places to 36th place.
Meanwhile, India and Australia have won US$175,000 each for finishing as the number-one ranked sides in Test and ODI Championship tables, respectively at the 1 April 2011 cut-off date.
India has been sitting on top of the Test Championship table since December 2009 while Australia has been occupying the number-one position on the ODI Championship table since leapfrogging South Africa and India in September 2009.
In addition to the US$175,000, India has also pocketed US$75,000 for finishing as the second-ranked ODI team while South Africa has also earned US$75,000 for ending in second position in the Test Championship table at the cut-off date.
